Planning & Zoning Commission

The Planning and Zoning Commission consists of nine Crystal Lake residents. The Commissioners are volunteers appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council. They review zoning and subdivision requests and make advisory recommendations to the City Council.

Meetings
The Planning and Zoning Commission meetings are held the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month beginning at 7:30 p.m. (exception: meetings will only be held the first Wednesday in November and December), see calendar. For information on how to present your development to the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, please reference the information outlined in the Development Application. Your petition is placed on the next available Planning and Zoning Commission meeting agenda, after it has been reviewed by staff and the legal notification requirements have been met. A staff report is prepared for each agenda item and is sent to the petitioner on the Friday afternoon prior to the Wednesday commission meeting. The Commission members will have the staff report and all zoning request submittal plans for the meeting.

Presentation
Your presentation before the Planning and Zoning Commission may be brief or lengthy, depending on the complexity of your project. The following information is meant to assist you in preparing an effective presentation.

Read through the staff report and the conditions of approval and be prepared to address the suggested conditions of approval at the end of the staff report. The Chair will ask if you understand all of the conditions and the project approval is subject to meeting those conditions.

When your item is called during the meeting, you will be asked to the front table, to state your name and be sworn in by the Chair.

Please prepare a brief 2-5 minute presentation about your request. More complex zoning requests may require a longer presentation, with your architect or engineer providing more details about the project. Whenever possible, supplement the presentation with visual aids. The City Council Chambers is equipped with a projector that can display photos, or a Power Point presentation. There is also an easel for display of presentation boards. The presentation should summarize the request and any major highlights of the project.

All the members of your development team should be present to answer any possible questions from the Commission. The Commission may ask questions about the architecture or the stormwater management system, so it would be beneficial to have the experts there to answer those questions.

Please be certain to address the zoning standards for your specific zoning request, e.g., for a zoning variation, a hardship needs to be provided. So please have this information included as part of your presentation to the Commissioners.